Mercer defense has added pieces, excitement

Tosin Aguebor is back.

And that’s only one reason for the excitement surrounding the Mercer defense entering this season.

The Bears return 10 starters from a unit that held up well in the team’s first Southern Conference season last year, and they have added a few key pieces in their past two recruiting classes.

Aguebor’s return, along with another year of experience and strength and conditioning work and finally the new pieces should add up to defensive improvement for the Bears.

“Tosin is 240 pounds now, and he looks great,” head coach Bobby Lamb said of his playmaking linebacker who missed all of last season after suffering a preseason injury. “(Linebacker) Kyle Williams is bigger. It looks like a totally different defense over there. They’re all bigger and playing at a higher level. You have a lot of guys who have been here now and really have stepped their game up and are finding their niche.”

Mercer’s defense allowed 379.9 yards and 24.1 points per game last season but wore down at times in conference play in the fourth quarter because of a lack of depth. Last year, Mercer played with 38 scholarships (to 63 for other FCS teams), but it will have 53 this season.

That returning group includes standouts Lendell Arnold and Alex Avant in the secondary, Tunde Ayinla and Austin Barrett up front and linebackers Tyler Ward, Corey Lockett, LeMarkus Bailey and Williams.

“We’re looking strong. The physical nature and the speed of our defense have increased during the offseason, and we have guys just flying around everywhere, guys making big hits and guys making big plays,” Ward said. “And turnovers, that’s our focus right now to get the ball out and guys to get the ball and do something with it.

“Depth is going to be a big key for us because we don’t stop. We’re no-huddle, and we’re flying around, and depth is a big thing for us this year. It’s great to have all the new guys out here.”

That new group features redshirt freshman linebacker Isaiah Buehler and true freshman Stephen Houzah at cornerback.

“Our defense continues to get better and keeps improving,” Lamb said. “We have some big-time players that we have to continue to grow with and plug in some younger guys, as well.”

This story was originally published August 29, 2015 at 10:13 AM with the headline "Mercer defense has added pieces, excitement ."